Opinions & EditorialsDiscuss The Trump-Putin War on American Intelligence Is in Overdrive at the General Forum; Trump and Putin Are Attack American Intelligence, FBI | Observer
Since the inauguration, the Trump White House has howled gigantic ...

Since the inauguration, the Trump White House has howled gigantic curses at the alleged “deep state,” another figment of the fervent imagination of the InfoWars and Fox News set, and they’ve now taken direct aim at the FBI. The Bureau will survive this unpleasant episode, but its reputation is being damaged by allies of their boss, our president, who are acting in concert with the FBI’s old enemies in Moscow. Why the Russians seek to dismantle American counterintelligence, their main enemy in the SpyWar, is no mystery. Why our president does, however, is a deeply troubling question that gets at the heart of the rot in Washington right now.

It’s time to acknowledge plainly that tRUmp doesn’t want to stop Putin's interference. After he encouraged Russian interference in 2016 and has refused to deter it since, we’d be naive to expect any different from him. And, unfortunately as president, tRUmp doesn’t have to actively collude with Putin's attacks on his behalf this time to help them. He only needs to block the use of American power against them.

A senior Obama administration official said that his team "sort of choked" when responding to reports that Russian-linked hackers had tried to influence to the November election.

The Washington Post reported on how, even though Barack Obama learned about the influence of hackers with ties to the Kremlin months before the election, the administration chose not take strong action in part due to assumptions that Hillary Clinton would win.

“It is the hardest thing about my entire time in government to defend," senior Obama administration official told The Washington Post. “I feel like we sort of choked.”

Here is how the Obama administration handled reports of Russia's involvement in the 2016 election according to the Washington Post:

In August, Barack Obama received a highly classified intelligence report outlining that high-level hackers with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin were going through the Democratic Party's computer networks with the aim of damaging Clinton's reputation and helping Donald Trump's candidacy.
The report was the first to lay out evidence of hacking activity in such detail and was presented only to Obama and three highest aides.

In the months leading up to the election, Obama's administration would routinely discuss the hacking situation but tried to keep the intelligence as quiet as possible — even Vice President Joe Biden was not informed until much later.

In attempts to punish Russia, Obama's administration considered hacking into Russian infrastructure, implementing tough sanctions or publishing CIA material that would embarrass Putin before the Russian people.

The administration even debated planting cyber weapons meant not to cause damage but show Russia just how far the US could go. As the project was fully implemented before Obama left office, Trump now has the power to pick it up or let it go.

Instead, the former administration ejected 35 Russian diplomats from the country, issued a series of warnings and brought in sanctions against Russia that many saw as merely symbolic.

As the time drew closer to the election, news of hacking activities became more difficult to conceal. Senators released statements on reports of hacking activity but, due in part from fear of Putin's retaliation, did not implicate Russia in the reports.

On Oct. 7, the Obama administration released its first statement saying that Russia had taken "active measures" to influence the outcome of the US election. By that time, Wikileaks had already shared thousands of emails from the Democratic Party's networks with the public.

By election day, there were no signs of voting infrastructure breakdowns, altered vote counts or any voter-related fraud. That said, considerable damage had been done to the DNC and Clinton's candidacy.

Obama's administration was "mortified and shocked" by the outcome that led to Trump's election. "Wow, did we mishandle this," one senior official told The Washington Post.

There's no doubt Obama was worried about the right wing politicizing any actions he would have taken as interfering to help Clinton. That's why he took that information to the Congressional Republicans where he asked them to join him and come out with a bipartisan response against Russian interference. You know, to place country over party. Instead Mitch McConnell told him that they would spin it as a way for Obama to steal the election for Hillary and refused.

So in the end, it was the Republicans who chose to play partisan politics with the integrity of the election and Obama who decided that he didn't want to be seen as interfering in it.

The difference now, is that tRUmp is actively doing nothing at all to stop it. In fact, he's encouraging it, he wants it to happen because he knows it will benefit him.

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“I can certainly say with confidence that there is significant evidence of collusion between the campaign and Russia.”
- Congressman Adam Schiff - SOURCE

There's no doubt Obama was worried about the right wing politicizing any actions he would have taken as interfering to help Clinton. That's why he took that information to the Congressional Republicans where he asked them to join him and come out with a bipartisan response against Russian interference. You know, to place country over party. Instead Mitch McConnell told him that they would spin it as a way for Obama to steal the election for Hillary and refused.

So in the end, it was the Republicans who chose to play partisan politics with the integrity of the election and Obama who decided that he didn't want to be seen as interfering in it.

The difference now, is that tRUmp is actively doing nothing at all to stop it. In fact, he's encouraging it, he wants it to happen because he knows it will benefit him.

Another blame the Republicans for Obama placing politics above national security. No evidence not even an opinion from a hostile media is given to support the hysterical partisan accusation.

__________________
The Democrat's strategy for the Trump Presidency is the same one used by Stalin's secret police chief "show me the man and I will show you the crime."

Another blame the Republicans for Obama placing politics above national security. No evidence not even an opinion from a hostile media is given to support the hysterical partisan accusation.

Redstate is sorta right here. But skewed to his political bent. When it cam to the Trump candidacy, the GOP did play politics not all that differently than the Democrats. Both opposed him. Even jumping in on the Russian allegations.

The GOP couldn't stop him, any more than the Clinton machine could stop him.

What Red misstated is that the GOP did not elect THE Donald. The people did.

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I am going to hang a Batman Costume in my closet. .......... Just to screw with myself when I get alzheimer's.
sola gratia, sola fide, sola scriptura.

I AM NOT A REPUBLICAN, I AM A FREEMAN, THE DEMOCRATS WORST NIGHTMARE

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Redstate is sorta right here. But skewed to his political bent. When it cam to the Trump candidacy, the GOP did play politics not all that differently than the Democrats. Both opposed him. Even jumping in on the Russian allegations.

The GOP couldn't stop him, any more than the Clinton machine could stop him.

What Red misstated is that the GOP did not elect THE Donald. The people did.

GOP never Trumpers were not the POTUS. They didn't promise Putin more flexibility. They didn't surrender American foreign policy to the whims of the Iranian mullahs. It was Obama trying to please European old colonial powers that led from his behind into turning Libya into a terrorist s show. They didn't cozy up to Cuban dictators in return for nothing. It was President Obama who was supposedly cowed by big bad Mitch McConnell into sacrificing the integrity of our election to politics. That is consistent with Obama's previous pattern of behavior but reaffirms his commitment to short term political objectives over national security while blaming others for his failures.

__________________
The Democrat's strategy for the Trump Presidency is the same one used by Stalin's secret police chief "show me the man and I will show you the crime."

There's no doubt Obama was worried about the right wing politicizing any actions he would have taken as interfering to help Clinton. That's why he took that information to the Congressional Republicans where he asked them to join him and come out with a bipartisan response against Russian interference. You know, to place country over party. Instead Mitch McConnell told him that they would spin it as a way for Obama to steal the election for Hillary and refused.

So in the end, it was the Republicans who chose to play partisan politics with the integrity of the election and Obama who decided that he didn't want to be seen as interfering in it.

The difference now, is that tRUmp is actively doing nothing at all to stop it. In fact, he's encouraging it, he wants it to happen because he knows it will benefit him.

Obama was President when all this **** went down, not Trump! You people are at fault for the Russian election interference, and no one else.

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"Laws are made for men of ordinary understanding and should, therefore, be construed by the ordinary rules of common sense. Their meaning is not to be sought for in metaphysical subtleties which may make anything mean everything or nothing at pleasure." -- Thomas Jefferson יהוה

Obama was President when all this **** went down, not Trump! You people are at fault for the Russian election interference, and no one else.

So what is tRUmp doing about the ongoing interference? Is that still Obama's fault too?

It’s time to acknowledge plainly that tRUmp doesn’t want to stop Putin's interference. After he encouraged Russian interference in 2016 and has refused to deter it since, we’d be naive to expect any different from him. And, unfortunately as president, tRUmp doesn’t have to actively collude with Putin's attacks on his behalf this time to help them. He only needs to block the use of American power against them.